Bayer to ship 200 million Cipro tablets

Goal for next 3 months with anti-anthrax drug ramp-up

DeborahAdamson

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (CBS.MW) -- Pharmaceuticals giant Bayer said Tuesday that it's committed to shipping 200 million tablets of Cipro, a drug that fights inhaled anthrax, over the next three months.

Under normal conditions, the company makes 20 million tablets a month. But the German drug giant
BAYZY
ramped up production due to a surge in demand. The company said that in four to five days, demand has reached levels normally seen over one month.

New York and Florida, where cases of anthrax currently are concentrated, saw the strongest demand. In the past weekend, the New York area had shortages of Cipro.

Ironically, the maker of Cipro could have been a victim itself. Officials said its Connecticut offices received a suspicious-looking envelope. But tests came back negative for anthrax.

Bayer (575200) said it would keep prices at pre-Sept. 11 levels -- $1.83 per 500-milligram tablet to the government, which gets the best deal.

Bayer officials say that a ramp-up in production for the U.S. market -- to continue indefinitely until demand wanes -- will not limit Cipro supplies for Europe.

In the past month, Bayer has shipped about 50 million tablets.

The dosage is two tablets a day for 60 days, Bayer officials said.

Bayer's patent of Cipro expires at the end of 2003. Meanwhile, the company is in litigation over the generic production of the drug.

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